Attachment-holder for sewing-machines



(No Model.)

J. M. GREIST. ATTAGHMENT HOLDER FOR SEWING MACHINES.

No. 504,876. Patented Sept. 12, 189B.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN M. GREIST, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

ATTACHMENT-HOLDER FOR SEWING- MACHINES.

$ZPEGIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 504,876, datedSeptember 12, 1893.

Application filed December 14, 1892. Serial No.455,184=. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN M. GREIST, a citizen of the United States,residing at New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAttachment- Holders for Sewing-Machines, of which the.

following is a specification, reference being had therein to theaccompanying drawings.

In connecting the various kinds of attachments to sewing machines a veryconvenient way of attaching the same in operative posisitions relativeto the needles of the machines is by securing the same to the presserfeet of the machines. This has heretofore been done in various ways, butone of the most convenient and reliable modes of attachment is toprovide the presser foot or the shank thereof with grooves on oppositesides of the foot or shank portion and between'which grooves is a neckof metal, said neck being embraced by a bifurcated bracket formed on theholding portion or shank of the attachment, the arms of said bifurcatedbracket fitting in the grooves of the presser foot or its shank. Therehas, however, heretofore existed a certain objection to this mode ofsecuring attachments to the presser feet of sewing machines owing to thefact that the sheet metal from which it is desirable to form some of theattachments is much thicker than that from which the shank or holdingportions of other attachments of the same set is or should be made. Thuswhen such attachments as rufflers and tuck markers, which are operatedfrom the needle bars of the machine, a supporting plate of comparativelythick sheet metal is desirable, the bifurcated attaching bracket beingstruck out directly from such thick sheet metal. With this thick sheetmetalit is necessary that the grooves in the presser foot or its shank,which grooves receive the arms of the bifurcated bracket, should be ofsufficient depth to permit the use of this thick sheet metal; but insecuring other attachments, such as hemmers and binders, in place, it isdesirable to form the shanks or holding portions thereof of thin sheetmetal, not only on the ground of economyin making these attachments, butalso for the reason that it is desirable to have the shank portion thereof sufficiently elastic to prevent it from working loose, or to avoidaccidental displacement when in operation.

The object of the invention is therefore to provide such a constructionof the shank or holding portions of these attachments, in which it isdesirable to form said shank or holding portions of thin sheet metal,that the bifurcated attaching portions of said shanks will properly fitgrooves in the presser foot which have a greater depth than thethickness of said shanks. This object I accomplish simply by striking upor otherwise form ing on the said shank or holding portions slight lugs,these lugs being of just sufficient height to compensate for thedifference between the thick sheet metal, from which the holdingportions of the rufflers, tuck markers, &c., of the setof attachmentsare formed, and the thin sheet metal from which the shanks of thebinders, hemmers, 850., are formed.

In the accompanying drawings Figure l is a side view of a presser footwith a binding attachment embodying my invention secured thereto inoperative position. Fig. 2 represents the binder separated from thepresser foot. Fig. 3 isa front view of the presser foot, and Fig. 4 is aplan view of ahemmer attachment embodying my invention.

A denotes a sewing machine presser foot provided at its shank portionwith grooves a, between'which is a neck of metal a.

B denotes a binding attachment secured to a holding shank or arm b, therear portion of which is formed as a bifurcated bracket 27, the arms ofwhich are of such size as to enter the grooves a in the presser foot andclosely embrace the neck a of metal between said grooves. The holdingshank of the attachment is formed of thin sheet metal from which thebifurcated bracket portion thereof is struck out, the said sheet metalbeing of aless thickness than the depth of the grooves a of the presserfoot. To compensate for the difference between the depth of the saidgrooves and the thin sheet metal from which the holding shank of theattachment is made I form, preferably by striking up from the metalconstituting the bifurcated bracket portion thereof, small lugs 19 whichare of a height sufficient to compensate for the difierence between thedepth of said groove and the thickness of the metal of the holding shankof the attachment, said lugs being preferably rounded on their uppersides, as shown, so that they will readily enter the grooves in thepresser foot.

0 denotes a hemmer which is secured to a holding shank I) having abifurcated bracket portion 1) provided with lugs 17 formed the same asare the lugs on the holding shank of the binderB.

The bifurcated portions of the attachments are intended to enter thegrooves of the presser foot and closely embrace the neck of metalbetween them, the parts being so constructed as to permit theattachments to be held in place by friction merely, without requiringany set screws for securing them in place. With this frictionalattachment, however, some little force is required in removing theattachments from the presser foot of the machine, and to permit of therequisite force beingappliedtheretoin removing the same, withoutstraining the attachments, I provide the holding shanks with upturnedfinger pieces 01 which receive the pressure of the finger of theoperator in withdrawing the attachments from their operative positions,thereby avoiding such strain on the attachments as would be liable tobend or otherwiseinjure the same.

To hold the attachment more firmly in place and prevent lateral movementthereof the presser foot is provided in its upperside with v alongitudinal groove a in which fits a small downwardly extending lug bformed on the shank or arm I) of the attachment.

The groove a is at the outer end or toe portion of the presser foot, andis open at its end so that it may be entered by the lug b as theattachment holding shank or arm b is slid into place in its workingposition. The bifurcated bracket portion 1) of the attachment holdingarm and the lugs 12 thereon fit with sufficient tightness in the groovesa of the presser foot to hold the attachment in place by friction. Asthe work is moved forward in the attachment the draft upon the latter istoward the presser foot, and there is therefore no danger having aholding shank provided with a bifurcated portion formed of sheet metalof a lesser thickness than the depth of said grooves, said bifurcatedportions being provided with lugs to compensate for the'diiferencebetween the thickness thereof and the depth of said groove.

2. The combination with the presser foot provided with oppositely placedgrooves between which is a neck of metal, of an attachment having aholding shank provided with a bifurcated portion formed of sheet metalof a lesser thickness than the depth of said grooves, said bifurcatedportion being provided with struck-up lugs having rounded uppersurfaces, said lugs serving to compensate for the difierence between thethickness of the metal of the bifurcated holding portion thereof and thedepth of said groove.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN M. GREIST.

Witnesses:

L. W. BEECHER, H. D. STANNARD.

